fix desktop

My mother is elderly. I fix her win10 computer and the next time I look at it the desktop is really ******* up. Her large icons take up most of the desktop. The start menu is different than it was when I loaded it. while it works, nothing is where it was originally. I've done some reading and some experimentation. The last time I had to reload windows.

 

Well that could be caused by different things. What was wrong with it?

 

Have you looked in Settings > System > Display? She may have used the slider to increase the Text size to see it clearer.

 

On the Windows (XP/7/8/10) Desktop, if you use a scroll-mouse, you can hold down the [Ctrl] key while using your mouse scroll-wheel to resize the icons from small to Extra large.

 

Any update on what caused your problem???

 

I have a similar problem now that I've downloaded the big anniversary update. Every 2nd or 3rd time I boot up, the icons on my desktop are re-arranged. I normally keep them in groups, but then they get scattered all over the screen, and they also change size. I gave up fighting it. When I go to a web site, mot of my screens are over sized and extend beyond the edge of the screen. I have to use "ctl -" twice to get them to fit. Next time same thing. I have adjusted text size, icon size, etc. but they soon go back to where they were. Start menu is different, but I fount what I needed.
Is there a setting somewhere to reset everything back to default and start from scratch?

 

Is your screen set at the recommended resolution?

 

I went out and reset the resolution to the "recommended" setting. When I came back here, I only saw half of your avatar and the scroll bar on the right was gone. The close button at the top was nowhere to be found and My icons at the bottom were gone. I couldn't open or close anything or move anything. Now have it set to where is was. In the process, I found a reset to ms default button. I'll try that after I take a nap.

 

Yes

 

When everything is to big in a browser window, try tapping [Ctrl][-] (Control Minus) a few times. ([Ctrl][+], Control Plus, in many browsers will enlarge).

 

You can do the same thing with CTRL and a scroll wheel mouse.

 

Yep, I mentioned that above: fix desktop

 

The standard view has the start button leading to all apps. The problem desktop has a context icon and a couple others to the left side of the screen.

 

Did you try clicking the Desktop once, then while holding down the [Ctrl] key, scroll the mouse wheel back towards you? (Scroll back towards you = smaller icons, Scroll forward away from you = larger icons).